I second Albini. People will always gripe about his outspoken nature, but he makes rock bands sound how they should sound, like they're throwin down proper in a good room, and that's it....I like pretty much everything he does. All the Jesus Lizard and Tar records are completely stellar, and Surfer Rosa to me is still the best example of what can be acheived with extremely little compression.
I don't know about an official countdown but here's some records I love for how they sound off the top of my head. I'm gonna try to add some oddballs here, cause we all already know how great Dark side of the Moon, the Beatles, and Steely Dan records sound already.
-AC/DC...Highway to Hell...the most solid, pounding, straight up rock and roll record of all time for me. Mutt Lange deserves a medal for that one. Maybe my favorite guitar tone of all time.
-Swervedriver...Mezcal Head - Extremely overlooked British band from the 90's. The production isn't picture perfect, but it's interesting as hell. Tons and tons of unbelievable guitars. "Duress" is one of the best tracks of that whole decade. I'll never get sick of this record.
-Thin Lizzy...Jailbreak - come on...solid as shit!...and underrated.
-Tony Rice...Unit of Measure - best acoustic recording I've ever heard.
-The Stooges...Funhouse - Yeah, knock on me for this if you will, but the record is incredible. Recording isn't necessarily about getting the right compression ratio on the overheads, it's about capturing the greatness of a band. I can hardly think of any better examples in my eyes. There's a vibe on this LP that you'll never hear again. By the end of it, it sounds like the band just doesn't want to stop playing. The first lp and Raw Power are sloppy throw togethers up against Funhouse.
-My Bloody Valentine Loveless - again, 'interesting' and 'creative' will triumph over 'proper' and 'perfect' anyday. This record is now 15 years old or so, and as much as others have tried, I still have yet to hear anything that sounds even remotely like it.
-Miles Davis Bitches Brew/Live Evil/In a Silent Way - I like them all for the same reasons. Talk about brilliant editing...and no Sonar or Pro Tools to do it with. If you're into recording and you've not heard these, just go get them.
-Devo....Duty now for the future/Are we not men - Underfreakingrated.
-Deerhoof...Runners Four - The only modern recording as of late that grabbed me. For all the analog nuts in the audience. If you're into the classic tape sound, you'll shit your pants when you hear this band's recordings.
-Brainiac...Hissing Prigs in the static couture - Again, creative and interesting over proper. The death of singer/creator Tim is one of the most saddest loses I've ever witnessed. This stuff is still unlike anything even though there are plenty of bands in the 'indie' world that try desperately to cop this vibe.
-Bad Brains...Quickness. Rod St. Germain rules for this. Talk about a big kick ass room sound. The drums, huge...guitars, huge. Still one of my favorites.
-Suicide..s/t debut - Trust me, you've never heard anything like it. Maybe my favorite record of all time.